Hat sizing and scalding machine



(No Model.) *2 Sheets-Sheet '1.

J. R. RUSSELL.

HAT SIZING AND SOALDING MACHINE.

No. 251,470. Patented Dec. 27,1881.

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2 t B e h s s t e e h s 2 L L E S S U R R J a d 0 M O W HAT SIZING AND SGALDING MACHINE.

Patented Dec. 27,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES RUSSELL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

HAT SIZING ANb SCALDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,470, dated December 27, 1881. I Application filed June 14, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. RUSSELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Hat Sizing and Scalding Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification;

This invention is in the nature of mechanism for sizing and scalding hats, the machine em bodying a twofold motion, and it is adapted for use either in the operation of sizing or of scalding.

I may here premise that in the felting operation it is old to use concaved, ribbed, corrugated, or equivalent rollers, in pairs and otherwise, and to arrange one of such rollers so as to adapt it to be raised to permit the insertion and removal of the bundles of felts. In some such machines the rollers have been made as perforated cylinders for the injection upon the felts of hot moisture-as steam, &c.-to keep the felts wet; but this construction I deem wholly impracticable, since the escaping vapor will be so dense as toimpede the operator,

and, further, will be thrown upon the operator. Again, felting-machines have been made with five rollers, one of which forms a backing for the others, which are arranged in pairs, so as to adapt the machine for two operators, such a machine to this end having a kettle with planks at each end, and havingits pairs of rollerscontrollable by such operators for the insertion and removal of the felts.

Now my invention has for its object the improvement of these structures and the remedyin g of their defects; and, generally stated, the invention consists in three pairs of rollers, geared so as to operate in unison, and preferably having concave surfaces, thetop roller of each end pair being adjustable, so as to increase or diminish the distance fromits lower roller, and to thereby vary the cavity between the end pairs of rollers and the intermediate pair of rollers, in accordance with the size of the bundle of hats to be treated. These rollers have an intermittent rotary reciprocating motion, and are arranged above a hot-water tank, from which hot water is supplied to the roll of hats in jets to keep it wet. The feedwater pipes are automatically adjustable to throw the water upward upon the roll of hats when being treated and to throwthe water downward into the tank when the roll of hats is to be introduced or withdrawn, thereby preventing theopcratorfrom beingscalded. Thus operated the mechanism is used for sizing hats. The gearing may be shifted so as to impart to the rollers an intermittent rotary motion in one direction to start thehats when soft and green, or when the hats shrink too fast, so as to give them a pinching tightening-up roll and subject them to scalding. The machine is adapted for two operators to feed from opposite sides, each feed being independent of the other.

- In the drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are correspondingly designated, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the opposite side. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 4 is an end view, partly in section. Fig. 5 is a detail, showing the pump and one of the perforated feed-pipes 5 and Fig. 6 is a detail of the shifting-gearing.

Upon standards A is arranged a tank, B, to receive water, and having a steam-coil or other heating device, 0, arranged in its bottom to keep the water in said tank hot. In opposite ends of this tank are arranged planks D D. These planks are arranged at asuitable incline, as withthe ordinary hatters kettle. Above the tank are posts E, which receive in suitable bearings two concave, corrugated, or' otherwise formed rollers, F F, geared together at one end by the pinions G Gr Gr. The posts A are continued upward, as at A A, and arail, H, with a groove in its under side, is supported upon these posts, and a grooved rail, H, is arranged upon these posts at about the top of the tank. Within the grooves in these rails 11 H, on opposite sides of the machine, are secured movable posts I I. These posts I receive rollers J J, similar in construction to the rollers F F, and the upper ends of these posts are slotted at K to receive the housin gs L 01;

rollers M M, which match the rollers J J. The shafts of the rollers M M rest in slotted levers N N, pivoted to the posts A A and connected by rods O with treadles P P, which treadles are pivoted in the posts A A, and their motion limited by adjustable buffers Q Q. The combination of the slotted levers N, the rods 0, and the treadles P with the slotted posts I and the movable housings of the rollers M permits the raising and lowering of said rollers M to vary their distance from the rollers J for the purpose of inserting or removing a roll of hats. The rollers 'F F, being in fixed bearings, form the backing for the two pairs of movable rollers.

The distance between the movable rollers and the fixed rollers is varied by means of setscrews It, fast in the posts A and taking in tapped holes in the posts I, so that by turning said screws the posts I, sliding in their grooved rails, with their rollers, are movable toward or from the rollers F F. By this means the cavity between the movable rollers and the back ing rollers is increased or diminished in accordance with the size of the roll of hats to be treated. On the opposite side of the machine (see Fig. 1) the lower roller F has a pinion, S, and vthe lower rollers J J have pinions T T. The upper rollers, M M ,have pinions U U.

From the post E projects the stud V. This stud receives a sleeve, W, which has rigidly affixed thereto the rod B. This rod B forms a guide for blocks 0 O, which support the rack-bar D, rigidly connected thereto.

To the upper end of the block 0 are pivoted rack-bars E E, which are connected with the rack-bar D by springs F F. The rack-bar D meshes with the pinions S T T and the rackbars EE mesh with the pinions U U. A horizontal reciprocating motion isimparted to these rack-bars on the guide-rod B by means of a rod, G, connected to a lever, 11, pivoted at its lower end to the standard A and vibrated by a cam, I, on the driving-shaft J, said cam preferably playing in a slot in the lower end of the lever H. This motion of the rack-bars will impart to the series of pairs of rollers an intermittent rotary reciprocating motion-th at is .to say, a complete rotation in one direction and a complete rotation in the reverse direction, thus resembling the rolling motion imparted by the hands in sizing hats.

.K is a pump,of any approved pattern, whose piston-rod L is driven from the lever H. This pump takes hot water from the tank or kettle B through a pipe, M, and discharges such hot water through perforated pipes N, arranged beneath the rollers and in line with the adjacent edges of the opposite pairs of movable and fixed rollers. In operation the perforations of the pipe N will stand vertically, so as to throw the water upward between such rollers and'upon the roll of hats placed between them, so as to keep said .hats sufiiciently wetted. These pipes N are arranged in suitable stuffin g-boxes or packed bearin gs, as shown in Fig.

5, and at one end (see Fig. 2) are provided the notched plates 0, preferably having square sides.

P P are rods pivoted to the treadles P, so as to have a vertical motion, and these rods are provided with teeth adapted to engage the notches in the plates 0 to turn the pipes.

Q Q are springs bearing against the rear edges of the plates 0 0. These plates, having their squared edges between these springs and the rods 1? P, will hold the pipes from being accidentally turned. When the treadles are depressed to raise the rollers M M the rods P P will be elevated and their teeth engage the notched plates to turn them and throw the perforated pipes over, so that their perforations will open into the tank and throw the hot water into such tank, it being understood that the normal position of the perforated pipes is with the perforations upwardto throw the water between the rollers; but when the rollers M are raised for the insertion or removal of a roll of hats the upward squirting of the waterwould be apt to scald the operator. Hence it becomes necessary to so turn the pipes as to throw the water into the tank.

Instead ofthe-springs Q and notched plates 0 and their moving rods P, pinions may be placed upon the pipes N,'and these pinions engage to turn the pipes by rack-bars.

Thus adjusted the machine is capable of use by two operators for performing the work of sizing hats. The operators take a number of hat-bodies to. make a roll, usually three or more, and dip such hat-bodies in the hot water in the tank, in the usual manner. The hatbodiesare then rolled up and put into the machine--that is to say, the upper rollers, M, having been raised, the roll of hats is thrown in with the rollers F as a backing, when the upper rollers are again dropped. Another roll of hat-bodies may he wetted in the same manner. While oneroll of hat-bodies is in the machine the other roll is in the operators hands, to be unrolled, dipped, and rolled up, with the usual crozing, these operations being conducted in the usual manner, and one person crozing while another operates the machine. As the hats shrink'and felt smaller under .the operations of the maehinerythe operator. turns the screws R and the adjusting-butters Q, so as to diminish the sizeof the cavity between the rollers in which the hats are placed, in order to increase the pressure upon the hats. An automatic increase of pressure may be efiected by placing weights upon the levers N. When the hats are small enoughthat is to say, sufficiently shrunk and feltedthey are to be taken out of the machine and pinned out under the "glove on the planks in the usual manner.

It will be'understood that the hat-bodies,'before being placed between the rollers, are rolled up in a cotton or woolen cloth, as usual.

In the operation of scalding the machine is to beset for a certain number of hats with the naps well stuck on. The hat-bodies thus supplied with naps are taken in any suitable number, dipped in the boiling water in the tank,

Besides the pinions U U and S T T the rollers are provided with pinions U S T, which slip upon the roller-shafts in one direction, and engage to turn said shafts in the other direc tion by means of the clutching mechanism substantially as shown in Fig. 6. The rack-bars D E E, their blocks 0 C, and rod B, and the sleeve Wform a frame which is movable upon the projection V, and which is retained upon said projection in any given position by means of the catch V. This rack-frame, hence, may be moved over upon the pinions U S T, so as to engage them, and when so moved the reciprocation of such rack-frame will, by means of the slipping pinions, impart to the rollers an intermittent rotary motion in one direction only. This motion is utilized in starting the hats when soft and green, or when they shrink too -fast, so as to give them the pinching tighten ing-up roll to expose them to more scalding, as hereinbefore referred to.

I have described but one form of carrying my invention into effective use.

The details of construction maybe modified so long as the essence of the invention is preserved.

The invention is designed to hasten, simplify, and cheapen the manufacture of felt hats or napped hats.

What I claimis-- 1. A combined hat sizing and scalding machine, composed of a series of rollers adapted to receive an intermittent rotary reciprocating motion,or an intermittent rotary motion in one direction, a hot-water tank or kettle, and perforated pipes to project the water upon the hats, substantially as described.

2. Apair of fixed rollers and adjacent pairs of rollers, the upper members of which are ad- 5 5 j us'table, combined with means for varying the relative proximity of such adjacent rollers to the fixed rollers, to adaptsuch rollers to re: ceive rolls of hats of various sizes, substantially as described.

3. In a hat-sizing machine, a pair of backing-rollers and two pairs of adjacent rollers, combined with mechanism for imparting to all such rollers a rotary reciprocating motion for sizing two rolls of hatbodies at once, substantial] y as described.

4. In a machine for sizing hats, a pair of backing-rollers and two pairs of adjacent rollers, combined with a mechanism for imparting to such rollers an intermittent rotary motion in one direction to start the hats when soft and. green, and to regulate the shrinkage of such hats,'substantially as described.

5. In a hat-sizing machine, a series of roller s, combined with a hot-water supply adapted to projectthe water up between the rollers onto the hats between them, and to throw such wa- 1 ter away from the rollers when the hats are to be removed, substantially as specified.

6. In a hat-sizing machine, a pair of fixed rollers and two pairs of rollers mounted in movable posts, the upper roller being independently movable in a vertical direction, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

7. In a hat sizing or scalding machine, a vertically-adjustable roller, combined with a footlever and anadjustable butter to fix the adjustment of such roller, substantially as described.

8. In organized machinery for sizing or scalding hats, the combination of a hot-water tank or kettle, planks at either end thereof, a series of pairs of rollers, the upper members of two of which series are adjustable vertically, and both of which latter series of pairs of rollers are adjustable horizontally, hot-water-projectingmeans adapted to throw water between the rollers or into the tanks, treadles or footlevers, and buffers therefor to move the upper rollers, and the hot-water projectors and means for imparting the requisite motion to said series of pairs of rollers for the sizing and scaldin g operations, substantially-as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES It. RUSSELL; 

